JPH08299917A - Plate-shaped body washing method and washer therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a small-sized washer by which various kinds and sizes of materials to be washed are uniformly washed. CONSTITUTION: Plural scrub brushes 4a,... are radially arranged and placed one upon another in two layers, and a material 10 to be washed is inserted between them. The direction of rotation is determined so that vectors of driving forces of the scrub brushes can be composed to rotate the material to be washed, and the material to be washed 10 inserted between the scrub brushes is washed. As the preparation of washing, the direction of rotation of the scrub brushes is selected so that resultant force of the vectors can be applied to the material to be washed 10 to drag it into the center of a washing part 1. After washing is finished, the direction of rotation of the scrub brushes is selected so that the material to be washed 10 can be discharged to a discharge part 3 by the resultant force of vectors.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for cleaning a plate-like body, and more particularly to a plate-like body suitable for automatically cleaning both surfaces of an object to be cleaned with a brush or a sponge-like cleaning component. The present invention relates to a body washing method and a washing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is known that a mask or reticle having a required pattern formed on a glass substrate is used when a thin film is formed on a substrate such as a semiconductor, glass or ceramic. Dust or particles adhere to the mask by repeated use. If the dust or particles are left as they are, it becomes difficult to form a high quality thin film on the substrate. Therefore, normally, after a certain amount of time or number of times of use, cleaning is performed to remove these dusts or particles.

As one of the conventionally known cleaning devices,
It is known that an object to be cleaned is linearly moved by a transfer device, and the object to be cleaned is rubbed and cleaned by a brush or sponge-like cleaning part disposed in the middle of the object. In addition, as an object to be cleaned placed on a holding table and cleaned with cleaning parts,
It is known to wash the held cleaning object while rotating it. Next, an example of a conventional device will be illustrated and described.

In the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 8, a disk-shaped wafer 100 as an object to be cleaned is placed on a holding table (not shown), and a set of rollers 200 is provided on the outer periphery of the wafer 100.
Is arranged. Further, the brush 300 having an effective length longer than the diameter of the wafer 100 is
It is arranged so as to face the 0 plane. Brush 3
00 in the direction of arrow a,
0 is rotated in the direction of arrow b to rotate the wafer 100 in the direction of arrow c. By rotating the wafer 100 in this manner, the surface can be uniformly cleaned.

For cleaning the wafer, mask, etc.,
In order to reduce frictional resistance during cleaning and prevent generation of static electricity, a cleaning liquid or the like in which pure water and ammonia water or pure water and carbon dioxide are mixed is used. A cleaning method of rubbing the surface to be cleaned with the brush or sponge is called scrub cleaning.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned conventional device,
There were the following problems. First, in the cleaning method in which the object to be cleaned is conveyed in a straight line, there is a problem that uniform cleaning cannot be performed because cleaning can be performed in only one direction.
Since the object to be cleaned is conveyed on a straight path, it is not suitable for the purpose of reliably cleaning it over a long period of time.

On the other hand, the cleaning method in which the object to be cleaned is rotated has a problem that it cannot cope with a change in the size of the object to be cleaned. Therefore, it was necessary to replace the holding table in accordance with the change of the size of the object to be cleaned. In particular, the apparatus shown in FIG. 8 has a problem that it can be applied only to a disk-shaped object to be cleaned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a plate-like body cleaning method and a cleaning apparatus capable of cleaning many kinds of objects to be cleaned and suitable for long-term cleaning. To do.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems and for achieving the object includes the following (1) to (7).
It is characterized by. (1) A plurality of cleaning parts are radially arranged, and the cleaning parts are stacked in two stages so that an object to be cleaned can be sandwiched therebetween, and the driving force vectors of all the cleaning parts are combined. In order to rotate the cleaning target so that the cleaning target rotates within the cleaning surface, the cleaning component is rotated, and the cleaning target sandwiched between the cleaning components is cleaned. . (2) The rotation direction is determined so that the force combined with the vector acts and the object to be cleaned conveyed from the previous step is drawn toward the center of the radial arrangement to convey the object to be cleaned to the cleaning position. And the step of rotating the cleaning part is added.
(3) After the cleaning of the object to be cleaned is completed, the rotation direction of the object to be cleaned is determined so that the object to be cleaned is sent out in a predetermined discharge direction by the force combined with the vector. The point to which the step of rotating is added. (4) When cleaning the object to be cleaned, two cleaning parts that are butted against each other are set as a set, and the cleaning part is rotated with a difference between the peripheral speed of one set and the peripheral speed of the other set. Point to let.

(5) A plurality of cleaning parts are radially arranged,
In addition, it is sandwiched between the cleaning parts which are stacked in two stages and are arranged so that an object to be cleaned can be sandwiched between them, and the driving force vectors of all the cleaning components are combined. And a drive means for determining the rotation direction of the cleaning component so as to rotate the object to be cleaned in a predetermined direction. (6) A point in which two cleaning parts that are butted against each other are set as a set and the cleaning parts are rotated by providing a difference between the peripheral speed of one set and the peripheral speed of the other set. (7) Two cleaning parts that are butted against each other are set as a set, and the abutting position of one set of the cleaning parts is deviated from the center of the radial arrangement. (8) In addition to the feature (6), the cleaning component has a truncated cone shape,
And the point where the small diameter side is on the center side of the radial arrangement.

[0011]

According to the features (1) and (5), by rotating the cleaning parts arranged radially and stacked in two stages, the object to be cleaned is rubbed and cleaned by the cleaning parts. It Further, the vector of the driving force of the cleaning component is combined to rotate the object to be cleaned, and the entire cleaning surface is subjected to the cleaning action of the cleaning component.

According to the feature (2), the object to be cleaned conveyed from the previous step can be drawn into the cleaning position by rotating the cleaning parts. According to the feature (3), the object to be cleaned which has been cleaned is discharged in the predetermined discharging direction by the rotation of the cleaning component. According to the features (4) and (6) and (8), since the object to be cleaned is rotated at the average peripheral speed of all the cleaning parts, the peripheral speed of the individual cleaning parts and the object to be cleaned are The difference from the peripheral speed of each part of the cleaning surface can be increased. As a result, the "rubbing force" of the cleaning surface can be increased. According to the feature (7), the gap formed at the abutting portion of each cleaning component is displaced from the rotation center of the object to be cleaned. Therefore, when rotating and cleaning the object to be cleaned, there is no part that cannot be covered by the cleaning component. can do.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of a main part of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a view of the cleaning part shown in FIG. 1 to 3, the cleaning device includes a cleaning unit 1, a transport unit 2 for feeding the cleaning target 10 to the cleaning unit 1, and a discharge unit 3 for receiving the cleaning target object 10 after cleaning. In the cleaning unit 1, cleaning parts (hereinafter referred to as "scrub brushes") 4a, 5a arranged radially in two stages,
6a, 7a and 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b are provided. For the sake of convenience of description, the reference numeral SB will be used to describe the scrub brush as a whole.

The scrubbing brush SB is constructed so as to be rotatable in the directions of the arrows d. The supporting means and rotation driving means for the scrubbing brush SB will be described later with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. Scrub brush S
Pipes 8 for injecting the cleaning liquid onto the scrub brush SB are arranged above and below B (FIG. 3). A spray nozzle 9 is attached to the pipe 8 so that the cleaning liquid can be sprayed onto the article 10 to be cleaned over a wide range and uniformly.

The transport section 2 comprises a plurality of transport rollers 11 for transporting the article to be cleaned 10 to the cleaning section 1.
1 is rotationally driven by a driving means such as a motor (not shown). The object to be cleaned 10 is sent to the discharge unit 3 after being cleaned, but the carrying roller 11 is driven to rotate not only in one direction but in both directions because it is transported in the returning direction depending on the setting of the process. You can The discharge unit 3 may simply be a tray, or may be composed of a group of rollers like the transport unit 2. The object to be cleaned 10 is conveyed to the central portion of the cleaning unit 1 by the conveyance roller 11, is rubbed by the scrub brush SB to be cleaned, and then is delivered onto the discharge unit 3.

The operation of the cleaning apparatus having the above structure will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 4 shows a scrub brush SB
It is a figure which shows the vector of the driving force which acts on the to-be-cleaned material 10 by rotation of. The scrub brush SB is represented by the straight line for convenience. Here, the article to be cleaned 10 is a plate-like body, and is assumed to be, for example, a mask or a reticle for IC manufacturing. In FIG. 4, solid line arrows v1 to v4 are vectors of the driving force acting on the object to be cleaned 10 by the rotation of each scrub brush, and a dotted arrow D drives the object to be cleaned 10 by the force when the vectors are combined. Each direction is shown.

First, until the object to be cleaned 10 is conveyed to the central portion of the cleaning section 1, the direction of rotation and the circumference are adjusted so that the vector of the force acting on the object to be cleaned 10 has the relationship shown in FIG. 4 (a). The speed is determined and each scrub brush SB is rotated. The article to be cleaned 10 is conveyed in the direction of the cleaning section 1 (arrow D) by the conveyance roller 11, and the tip portion thereof is the scrub brush 4
a, 4b and 7a, 7b, the object to be cleaned 10
Is drawn between the scrub brushes 4a and 4b, and between 7a and 7b. Then, when the object to be cleaned 10 is drawn up to the central portion of the cleaning unit 1, it is applied to the scrub brushes 5a, 5b and 6a, 6b this time, and the scrub brushes 4a, 4b and 5a, 5b and the scrub brushes 6a, 6b and 7a, It can be moved further by the rotation of 7b.

When the center of the object to be cleaned 10 reaches the center of the cleaning section 1, the rotation of the scrub brush SB is once stopped. Then, after the cleaning target 10 is stopped, the cleaning target 1
The rotation direction and the peripheral speed are determined so that the vector of the force acting on 0 has the relationship shown in FIG.
Rotate B. As a result, the object to be cleaned 10 rotates as shown by the arrow D1.

After cleaning the cleaning object 10 by rotating the scrubbing brush SB while rotating the cleaning object 10 for a predetermined time of, for example, about 5 minutes, the cleaning object 10 is sent to the discharge section 3, Change the rotation direction of the scrub brush SB. That is, the scrub brush SB is rotated so that the force represented by the vector shown in FIG. In addition, the article to be cleaned 10 that has been cleaned is discharged into the discharge unit
When returning to the transport unit 2 instead of sending out to
As a vector like (c) acts, that is, in FIG.
The scrub brush SB is rotated in the opposite direction to the case of (a). By this rotation, the object to be cleaned 10 is moved in the direction of the arrow D2 and is discharged to the transport unit 2.

The start and stop of the rotation of the scrub brush SB and the control of the rotation direction described above may be performed manually or automatically. In the case of automatic control, for example, a detection unit such as an optical sensor may be provided at a predetermined position of the cleaning unit 1 to detect the position of the object to be cleaned 10, and the control may be executed based on the detection signal of this sensor. It should be noted that the cleaning liquid for cleaning may be constantly sprayed, or may be rotated after the object to be cleaned 10 first rotates and after the cleaning operation actually starts.

The peripheral speeds of all the scrub brushes SB may be the same, or the following may be performed in order to further improve the cleaning effect. That is, among the scrub brushes SB, the ones (groups) that are arranged radially and have their end faces abutted are made to have the same peripheral speed, and the peripheral speeds are made different between one group and the other group. 1 to 3, the scrub brushes 4a, 4b and 6a, 6b and the scrub brushes 5a, 5b and 7a, 7b have different circumferential velocities.

The rotation speed of the object to be cleaned 10 is small in the central part and large in the part near the periphery. The cleaning action occurs due to the difference between the rotational speed of each part of the object to be cleaned 10 and the peripheral speed of the scrub brush SB. Therefore, when the peripheral speeds of the scrub brushes SB are all the same, the difference between the rotational speed and the peripheral speed is not so large.

On the other hand, when the peripheral speeds of the scrub brushes SB are made different in the respective groups, the object to be cleaned 10 rotates at the average speed of the peripheral speeds of the scrub brushes SB. As a result, the difference between the rotation speed of each part of the object to be cleaned 10 and the peripheral speed of the scrub brush SB can be increased, and the cleaning action can be increased. When the peripheral velocities of the scrub brushes SB of the respective sets are made different, the relative size of the peripheral velocities of the respective sets is not fixed, but the peripheral velocities of the respective sets are reversed at predetermined intervals. Good.

Further, in the arrangement of the scrub brush SB as shown in FIG. 1, there is a portion where the scrub brush SB does not cover the object to be cleaned 10 at the center point P of the radial scrub brush SB. Practically, since the center point P of the scrub brush SB radially arranged and the rotation center of the object to be cleaned 10 do not completely coincide with each other, there is no part that is not cleaned at all. However, even if the center point P coincides with the rotation center of the object to be cleaned by chance,
It is desirable that the scrub brush SB be able to cover the entire rotating cleaning target 10.

Therefore, if the scrubbing brush SB is arranged as follows, the entire object 10 to be cleaned can be covered. Figure 5
[FIG. 6] is a plan view of a cleaning unit 1 showing a modification of this embodiment. In the figure, the abutting positions of the scrub brushes 4a, 4b and 6a, 6b are displaced from the center point P.
Note that the magnitude of the deviation from the center point P is indicated by a symbol L in the drawing so that the cleaning action is not partially reduced, that is, there is no portion not covered by the scrub brush SB.
Make sure that the quantities 1 and L2 are not the same.

Next, the means for supporting the scrub brush SB will be described. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the scrub brushes 4a and 4b arranged above and below and a supporting structure thereof, and FIG. 7 is a side view thereof. Since the scrub brushes 4a and 4b and the supporting structure thereof have common parts, only the scrub brush 4a and the supporting structure thereof will be described unless otherwise indicated, and the scrub brush 4b is shown with reference numeral b added. I'm just doing it.

In the figure, a shaft 12a is inserted through the scrubbing brush 4a, and they are fixed to each other by a set screw 13a at the tip. The shaft 12a is a hinge shaft 14a.
Is coupled to the drive shaft 15a via a hinge mechanism including The hinge mechanism moves the scrub brush 4a to the shaft 12a.
It is provided so that it can be replaced by removing it. In FIG. 7, the shaft 1 is centered around the hinge shaft 14a.
It shows a state in which the scrub brush 4a can be inserted and removed by rotating the 2a so as to stand upright.

A sleeve 17a, which is urged toward the scrub brush 4a by a compression spring 16a, is passed through the drive shaft 15a. The sleeve 17a limits bending of the shaft 12a at the hinge shaft 14a when the scrub brush 4a is used. When the scrub brush 4a is replaced, the shaft 12a can be bent by the hinge shaft 14a by pressing the sleeve 17a in the compression direction of the spring 16a.

The drive shaft 15a is rotatably supported by a bearing 18a, and a gear 19a is attached to the other end of the drive shaft 15a so as to be connected to a shaft of a motor (not shown). It is desirable that the bearing 18a be capable of vertically adjusting the position of the scrub brush 4a in accordance with various thicknesses of the article to be cleaned 10. Therefore, in this embodiment, the bearing 18a can be moved in the thickness direction of the object to be cleaned 10. That is, the bearing 18a is fixed to the block 22 which is slidable with respect to the rail 21 fixed to the support frame 20a. After aligning the block 22 with the rail 21, it is preferable to fix it with an appropriate fixing means such as a set screw. The sliding mechanism may be provided on at least one of the scrub brushes arranged above and below.

In the present embodiment, the object to be cleaned having a rectangular plate shape has been described as an example. However, the object to be cleaned is not limited to a rectangular shape and may be any other shape such as a disk as long as it is a plate-like object. Needless to say, the same can be applied to wash.

The object to be cleaned which has been cleaned is not limited to being discharged to the discharge section 3 or to the transport section 2 and is discharged in a direction orthogonal to the flow line from the transport section to the discharge section 3. May be. In this case, the rotation direction of the cleaning component should be determined so that the combined vector of the rotational forces of the cleaning component acts in the direction orthogonal to the directions D to D2 shown in FIG. 4 (a) or 4 (c). Good.

The outer shape of the scrub brush SB is not limited to a cylindrical or cylindrical shape, but may be a truncated cone shape having a small diameter at the tip portion, that is, on the center side of the radial arrangement. That is, by making the outer shape of the scrub brush SB into a truncated cone shape and making the circumferential speeds of the abutted groups different from each other as described above, the scrub brush S can be more reliably performed.
The peripheral speed of B and the rotation speed of the object to be cleaned can be made different, and as a result, the cleaning action can be improved.

That is, the difference in the rotation speed of the central portion and the rotation speed of the peripheral portion when the object to be cleaned is rotated corresponds to the difference in the peripheral speeds of the top and the bottom of the cone of the scrubbing brush SB having a truncated cone shape. The shape of the truncated cone is determined so that By doing so, when the peripheral speed of each set of the scrub brush SB is made different, it is possible to surely cause a difference between the peripheral speed of the scrub brush SB and the rotation speed of each part of the object to be cleaned.

Further, the scrubbing brush SB is not limited to the cross-shaped arrangement as in the above-mentioned embodiment, but, for example, three sets of scrubbing brushes may be arranged by abutting in a Y-shape. What is essential is that a plurality of scrub brushes are radially arranged so that the object to be cleaned can be driven by the combined vector of the driving forces generated by the respective rotations.

[0035]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the inventions of claims 1 to 8, the following effects can be obtained. (1) Unlike an apparatus that cleans an object to be cleaned while transferring it in a linear transfer step, since cleaning can be performed at a fixed position, cleaning can be performed for a long time. Further, as compared with the cleaning in the linear transfer process, the supply range of the cleaning agent can be narrowed, which is advantageous in terms of the usage amount of the cleaning agent and the simplicity of equipment. (2) Since the size and shape of the object to be cleaned are less restricted, the target can be expanded. (3) Since the scrubbing brush drive means can also serve as the rotation and conveyance means for the article to be cleaned, the apparatus can be made compact. Since it does not require a long washing process,
It is easy to arrange a plurality of cleaning devices to improve productivity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of arrow A of the cleaning device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a rotational force vector of a scrub brush and a moving direction of an object to be cleaned.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a modified example of the scrub brush.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a support structure for a scrub brush.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a support structure for a scrub brush.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an outline of a conventional cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cleaning part, 2 ... Conveying part, 3 ... Ejecting part, 4a, 4
b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b ... Scrub brush, 10 ... Cleaning object, 11 ... Conveying roll

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning unit in which a plurality of cleaning parts are radially arranged and the cleaning target is sandwiched between the cleaning parts in two stages, and an axis substantially parallel to the surface to be cleaned. In the method of cleaning a plate-like object in which the cleaning part is rotated around the cleaning part to wash the plate-shaped object to be cleaned, the driving force vectors of all the cleaning parts are combined to form the cleaning object in the cleaning surface. An object to be cleaned that is sandwiched between the cleaning parts due to a difference between the rotational speed of the surface to be cleaned and the peripheral speed of the cleaning part due to the rotation direction being determined so that the cleaning part is rotated. A method for cleaning a plate-shaped body, comprising: 2. The driving force vectors of all the cleaning parts are combined so that the cleaning target conveyed from the previous step is drawn toward the center of the radial arrangement to transfer the cleaning target to the cleaning position. The plate-like body cleaning method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of determining a rotation direction and rotating the cleaning component. 3. After the cleaning of the object to be cleaned is completed, the driving force vectors of all the cleaning parts are combined to send the object to be cleaned from the center of the radial arrangement in a predetermined discharge direction. The plate-like body cleaning method according to claim 2, further comprising a step of determining a rotation direction of the cleaning component and rotating the cleaning component. 4. When cleaning the object to be cleaned, two cleaning parts that are butted against each other are set as a set, and a difference is provided between the peripheral speed of one set and the peripheral speed of another set, and the cleaning part is provided. The plate-like body cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the plate-like body is rotated. 5. A plate-shaped body cleaning apparatus for cleaning a plate-shaped object to be cleaned by rotating a cleaning part around an axis substantially parallel to a cleaning surface, wherein a plurality of the cleaning parts are radially arranged. A cleaning unit in which the cleaning parts are arranged in two stages and an object to be cleaned can be sandwiched between the cleaning parts, and driving force vectors of all the cleaning parts are combined to combine the cleaning parts. A plate-like body cleaning apparatus comprising: a drive unit that determines a rotation direction of the cleaning component so that the object to be cleaned sandwiched therebetween is rotated in a predetermined direction. 6. A structure in which two cleaning parts abutted against each other are set, and the cleaning parts are rotated with a difference between the peripheral speed of one set and the peripheral speed of another set. The plate-shaped body cleaning device according to claim 5. 7. The cleaning part according to claim 5, wherein two cleaning parts abutted against each other are set as a set, and the abutting position of one cleaning part is offset from the center of the radial arrangement. Plate cleaning device. 8. The cleaning component has a truncated cone shape,
The plate-shaped body cleaning apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the small diameter side is on the center side of the radial arrangement.